The accident, she declared, was not her husband’s fault. The fact the man had run away proved it.
What was the idea of bringing them down here? They had their store to look after. Did Meadows imagine an eighteen-year-old chit of a girl could handle the store while they wasted time with the police, and so on and so on with Meadows trying to stem the flood.
I sat there, frozen with panic while I stared at Carey.
Maybe that was the wrong thing to have done. My concentrated stare attracted his attention and he turned suddenly and looked at me.
I felt my heart contract as I saw him stiffen. He looked away, then looked again at me. Our eyes met.
I had a horrible feeling that he recognised me. For a long moment we stared at each other, then he turned away, hunching his shoulders, back into his role of bewilderment.
Meadows was explaining to the woman about the kidnapping and she was quietening down.
‘I’m not interested in the accident,’ he told her. ‘I want a description of this man.’ He side-stepped her and went over to Carey. ‘You talked to him?’
The little man nodded nervously.
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Tell me what he was like.’
Carey looked at his wife, then back at Meadows. He dropped his hat, picked it up, flushing.
‘Well, he was a big fellow, sir. It was dark. I didn’t get a good look at him.’
‘Big and broad?’
‘That’s right.’
‘I wouldn’t say that,’ Mrs. Carey said. ‘He was broad all right, but he wasn’t tall. He was like you,’ and she pointed at Meadows.
He scowled at her.
‘I’m talking to your husband,’ he said. ‘I’ll talk to you later.’
‘My husband never notices anything,’ the woman said. ‘It’s no good asking him. His brother’s the same. You can no more rely on anything my husband says than you can rely on anything his brother says. I should know. I’ve been married to him now for twenty-six years.’
Ignoring her, Meadows said, ‘You had the impression, Mr. Carey, this man was tall. How tall?’
Carey hesitated, looking apologetically at his wife.
‘It’s hard to say, sir. The light wasn’t good. I certainly got the impression that he was tall.’
Meadows made a movement of exasperation. He pointed to Renick.
‘That tall?’
Carey stared at Renick, dropped his hat again and fumblingly picked it up.
‘Something like it. Maybe a little taller.’
The woman snorted.
‘I wish I knew what the matter is with you,’ she said. ‘The man wasn’t any taller than this gentleman here,’ and again she pointed to Meadows.
‘I was under the impression, my dear, he – he was a big man,’ Carey said and he wiped his bald head with his handkerchief.
Meadows swung around to me.
‘Stand up, will you?’ he said impatiently.
I was the tallest man in the room. Slowly, I stood up. My heart was thumping so violently I was scared they would hear it.
‘This gentleman is a giant!’ the woman said. ‘I keep telling you the other one was not tall at all.’
Carey was staring at me.
‘It seems to me,’ he said hesitantly, ‘this gentleman is about the same size in build and in height to the man in the car.’
I sat down. Carey still continued to stare at me.
‘Okay, tell me what happened. You collided with this guy’s car?’ Meadows said.
Carey dragged his eyes from me.
‘I was in my car and I backed out, I had forgotten to put on my lights. I backed right into his car. I just didn’t see it.’
‘You did nothing of the kind! You had backed out and this fellow came along and ran into you,’ his wife interrupted. ‘It was entirely his fault. Then he got abusive and drove away. When he parked his car, he ran off. If it hadn’t been his fault, why did he run away?’
‘I don’t give a damn who’s fault it was,’ Meadows snarled. ‘All I’m interested in is finding this man.
Now, sir,’ he went on to Carey, ‘did you notice anything else about this fellow? Could you make a guess at his age?’
‘From his voice and the way he moved, I’d say he was a man in his early thirties,’ Carey said. He looked
